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REPORT  OF  C.  N.  KENDALL 

Commissioner  of  Education  of  New  Jersey,  on 
the  Boise  Public  Schools,  Submitted  to  the 
Board  of  Education  December  18,  I9J0» 


(From  The  Idaho  Statesman  of  December  18,  1910.) 

I  beg  to  submit  the  following  report  of  my  inspection  of 
the  Boise  Public  Schools  during  the  week  beginning  Monday, 
November  21,  1910: 

I  wish  to  say  at  the  outset  that  every  possible  courtesy  was 
extended  to  me  by  Superintendent  Meek  and  by  the  principals 
and  teachers. 

I  have  long  felt  that  the  efficiency  or  value  of  a  system  of 
schools  is  determined  by  five  factors :  First,  the  school  build- 
ing or  school  plant;  second,  the  teacher;  third,  the  course  of 
study;  fourth,  the  organization  of  the  schools;  fifth,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  community.  Underlying  all  this  is  the  considera- 
tion of  the  question  as  to  Avhat  the  schools  are  doing  for  the 
individual  child.  The  conservation  of  the  individual  is  fun- 
damentally the  most  important  consideration  in  a  system  of 
schools. 

School  Buildings. 

I  was  much  impressed  with  the  appearance  of  the  new  part 
of  the  high  school. 

I  did  not  see  about  the  yards  of  the  elementary  schools 
any  apparatus  for  playground  or  gymnastic  purposes.    A  con- 


siderablc  amount  of  playground  or  gymnastic  apparatus,  such 
as  parallel  bars,  swings,  teeter  boards,  maypoles,  etc.,  is  neces- 
sary if  the  playground  is  properly  equipped. 

T  found  good  ventilation  in  the  various  buildings.  In  the 
newer  buildings  the  lighting  is  all  that  could  be  desired. 

Your  high  school  needs  additional  library  facilities.  The 
suppy  of  books  is  not  adequate  by  any  means  to  the  needs  of 
the  school.  I  was  glad  to  see  that  your  elementary  schools 
are  equipped  with  supplem'entary  reading  material. 

Teachers. 

So  many  factors  enter  into  teaching  that  one  can  not  judge 
with  a  high  degree  of  confidence,  in  a  short  time,  the  eflficency 
of  a  teaching  corps.  However,  I  gained  some  general  im- 
pressions. I  saw  very  little  poor  teaching.  I  saw  much  that 
was  good,  and  some  that  was  excellent.  I  did  not  see  any  ap- 
pearance of  disorder  or  lack  of  discipline  in  a  single  room  that 
I  visited.  On  the  contrary,  I  gained  the  impression  that  both 
teachers  and  pupils  were  at  work,  not  some  of  the  time,  but 
all  of  the  time.  There  is  an  air  of  quiet,  eflfective  industry  on 
the  part  of  the  pupils  and  teachers  in  your  schools. 

I  was  impressed  with  the  unusually  large  numbep  of  young 
teachers  in  the  schools.  I  saw  few  teachers  who  had  been  in 
the  schools,  apparently,  any  considerable  number  of  years.  I 
am  of  the  opinion,  and  it  is  a  very  decided  one,  that  if  your 
schools  are  to  be  brought  to  as  high  a  degree  of  efficiency  as 
can  reasonably  be  expected,  an  earnest  eflfort  should  be  made 
to  secure  continuity  in  the  teaching  staflf.  Of  course  your 
schools  will  lose  a  certain  number  of  teachers  from  year  to 
year  by  marriage  and  by  removal  to  other  places ;  this  is  true 
in  any  public  school  system  in  the  country.     Moreover,  some 


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teachers  will  be  found  to  be  inefficient,  and  they  should  not 
be  retained  in  the  schools,  if  the  schools  exist  for  the  children. 
Owing  to  the  location  of  your  city  and  to  the  fact  that  such  a 
large  number  of  your  teachers  are  necessarily  from  parts  of 
the  country  remote  from  Boise,  there  is  danger,  as  I  see  it,  that 
teachers  may  remain  with  you  only  for  a  brief  period  and  then 
either  move  on  to  the  coast  or  return  to  the  east,  thus  necessi- 
tating year  by  year  a  large  number  of  new  teachers  in  your 
corps. 

The  evolution  of  a  teacher,  even  though  she  be  a  normal 
or  college  graduate,  is  a  slow  process.  In  a  well  administered 
system  much  can  be  done  in  a  single  year  for  the  improvement 
of  teachers,  and  much  is  being  done  by  your  superintendent 
and  his  assistants,  but  more  can  be  done  in  the  development 
of  strong  teachers  and  in  creating  the  necessary  esprit  de 
corps,  if  the  teachers  remlain  for  a  considerable  period  of  years 
in  the  service. 

A  limited  number  of  teachers  with  little  experience  in 
teaching  is  not  to  be  deplored,  but  the  number  must  not  be.  too 
large,  if  your  teaching  body  as  a  whole  is  to  attain  a  high  de- 
gree of  efficiency.  Character  or  distinction  is  usually  given  to 
a  system,  of  schools  by  those  teachers  who  have  had  several 
years  of  experience  in  the  schools,  who  know  something  about 
the  traditions  of  the  schools,  if  there  are  traditions,  who  are 
in  harnion}-  with  the  spirit  of  the  schools,  and  who  are  con- 
scious of  having  contributed  to  whatever  degree  of  success  the 
schools  have  attained. 

Should  Retain  Teachers. 

I  think  one  of  the  serious  problems  necessary  for  you  to 
work  out  is  to  so  administer  the  schools  that  you  may  be  able 
to  retain  year  after  year  a  large  number  of  the  teaching  staff 


in  the  schools.  In  my  judgment,  one  of  the  factors  which  will 
contribute  to  permanency  of  the  teaching  staff  is  higher  sal- 
aries for  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools.  Your  salaries  are 
low  in  comparison  with  cities  on  the  Pacific  coast  with  which 
yoM  must  enter  more  or  less  into  competition,  and  even  in  com- 
parison with  cities  in  the  middle  west,  bearing  in  mind  the 
expense  of  living  in  your  city  and  railroad  fares. 

I  think  that  you  have  been  wise  in  giving  your  superinten- 
dent large  latitude  in  the  employment  of  teachers.  I  have 
rarely  seen  such  promising  material,  as  a  whole,  in  a  teach- 
ing corps,  as  I  saw  in  the  Boise  schools.  The  teachers  ap- 
parently have  been  selected  with  care  and  discrimination. 

Course  of  Study. 

Not  much  needs  to  be  said  about  the  course  of  study.  It 
has  been  well  and  thoughtfully  worked  out.  In  the  high 
school  I  was  particularly  impressed  with  the  work  in  the  ag- 
ricultural laboratory  and  by  the  practical  character  of  the 
work  in  the  other  biological  science. 

Need  Industrial  Training. 

I  have  two  or  three  suggestions  to  make  relative  to  the 
course  of  study.  I  think  your  most  serious  defect  lies  in  the 
failure  to  provide  adequate  industrial  and  hand  training.  This 
kind  of  training  is  not  so  much  in  evdence  in  the  Boise  schools 
as  it  should  be.  Many  of  the  children  are  without  this  train- 
ing, except  the  limited  amount  which  they  receive  in  the 
instruction  in  drawing.  In  a  word,  in  my  judgment,  there 
should  be  more  hand  work  in  the  primary  schools,  more 
manual  training  in  the  intermediate  schools,  and  more  indus- 
trial training  in  the  higher  grades  of  your  grammar  schools.    I 


have  used  the  terms  hand  training,  manual  training  and  indus- 
trial training,  but  I  do  not  mean  too  strict  a  classification  on 
this  basis. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  outline  the  sort  of  work  which  I 
believe  you  should  do.  I  am  simply  making  a  statement  and 
not  filling  in  the  outline.  I  think  you  have  made  a  good  be- 
ginning, however,  in  the  work  in  cookery  and  shop  work  in 
the  higher  grades,  but  your  industrial  courses  do  not  reach 
a  sufficiently  large  number  of  pupils. 

I  am  also  of  the  opinion  that  you  should  give  miore  atten- 
tion to  physical  training.  The  health  of  children  should  be 
conserved  in  the  schools.  I  think  you  are  doing  admirably  in 
the  high  school,  but  in  the  elementary  schools  there  should  be 
not  merely  formal  gymnastics,  but  games  and  plays  in  the 
primary  grades  should  be  more  in  evidence.  In  my  judgment, 
you  could  profitably  employ  a  well-trained  young  woman  to 
look  after  the  physical  development  of  the  children  in  the 
elementary  schools,  in  accordance  with  modern  methods. 

A  systematic  medical  inspection  of  school  children  should 
be  established  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment. 

Organization. 

As  to  organization  in  the  schools,  I  was  pleased  to  find  that 
there  were  practically  no  crowded  school  rooms  in  Boise. 

"I  wish  to  indorse  your  plan  of  departmental  schools  in  the 
higher  grammar  grades.  In  my  judgment,  this  plan  of  organ- 
ization must  continue,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  fine  teachers,  if 
the  efficiency  of  the  schools  is  to  be  kept  up. 

I  was  glad  to  know,  too,  that  you  have  provided  for  efficient 
and  competent  supervision. 

You  have  in  some  school  rooms  children  who  are  consid- 
erably over  age  or  behind  in  their     grades,  and  who  conse- 


quently  are  a  drag  upon  the  progress  of  normal  pupils  and 
upon  the  energy-  of  teachers. 

These  pupils  are  commonly  called  'iaggards"  or  "retarded" 
pupils.  They  are  not  only  retarded  themselves,  but  their  con- 
tinued presence  in  the  regular  classes  operates  to  retard  other 
pupils,  because  the  teacher  is  forced  to  give  these  children 
more  time  than  rightly  belongs  to  them.  Some  of  these  pupils 
in  the  higher  grades  are  not  fitted  to  carry  on  the  conventional 
bookish  courses  of  study.  If  possible,  they  should  be  given  an 
extra  amount  of  industrial  training  to  meet  their  individual 
needs,  and  in  order  that  they  may  be  saved  to  society,  speak- 
ing economically. 

I  believe  that  one  or  two  ungraded  or  special  teachers 
should  be  employed  to  teach  these  pupils,  as  individuals,  in 
the  standard  school  subjects,  such  as  reading,  the  writing  of 
English,  penmanship  and  arithmetic.  These  pupils  could  by 
this  means  be  taught  as  individuals  and  not  in  classes,  or  at 
any  rate  in  very  small  classes.  The  purpose  of  this  special  in- 
struction would  be,  as  the  expression  is,  to  bring  the  child  up 
to  the  grade,  and  to  relieve  the  regular  teacher  from  the  neces- 
sity of  giving  these  children  more  than  their  due  proportion 
of  the  school  time.  The  employment  of  a  sympathetic,  skillful 
teacher  would  be  a  good  investment,  for  by  this  means  many 
of  these  children  could  be  brought  up  to  the*  grade  where  they 
properly  belong. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  at  any  length  the  question 
of  the  support  of  the  school  by  the  community.  If  there  is 
any  evidence  of  a  lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  community 
in  the  work  of  the  public  schools,  I  was  unable  to  discover  it 
during  my  six  days  stay  in  Boise.  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever 
seen  a  more  encouraging  situation  in  this  respect  than  exists 
today  in  your  city.     As  an  evidence  of  this,  I  mention  the  at- 


titude  of  your  Commercial  Club  towards  the  schools.  The  club 
evidently  realizes  that  a  good  system  of  schools  is  an  asset. 
I  do  not  mean  merely  a  moral  or  educational  asset,  but  I  mean 
a  commercial  asset.  In  the  large  territory  of  which  Boise  is 
the  center  and  the  capital,  large  numbers  of  persons  will  be 
attracted  to  the  city  as  a  place  of  residence  because  they  will 
realize  that  their  children  will  have  the  advantage  of  an  ex- 
cellent system  of  schools,  and  if  they  do  not  have  children,  they 
will  prefer  to  live,  all  other  things  being  equal,  in  a  community 
where  there  are  good  schools. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  thank  the  board  and  Superinten- 
dent Meek  for  the  opportunity  to  spend  the  six  days  in  your 

schools. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

C.  N.  KENDALL. 

Along  the  line  of  Commissioner  Kendall's  report,  the  Board 
of  Education,  at  its  monthly  meeting  in  May,  1911,  authorized 
the  Superintendent  to  employ  the  following  special  teachers : 

One  additional  teacher  of  sewing  for  the  girls  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  grades ;  a  teacher  of  industrial  arts  for  the  boys  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  grades;  a  shop  instructor  for  the  boys  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grades;  a  cooking  teacher  for  the  girls  of 
the  seventh  and  eighth  grades ;  a  playground  director  for  the 
elementary  schools ;  a  school  nurse ;  and  two  additional  indus- 
trial teachers  for  the  High  School. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  music  supervisor,  a  man  has  been 
engaged  to  devote  his  time  exclusively  to  music  instruction  in 
the  High  School.  The  course  includes  band,  orchestra,  choral 
work,  musical  history,  theory  and  harmony.  Credits  are  given 
in  these  subjects  just  as  in  other  High  School  lines. 

In  June,  1911,  the  board  also  purchased  a  forty-acre  central 


playground  and  athletic  field,  for  which  they  paid  $16,000.  A 
thirty-acre  demonstration  farm  has  recently  been  acquired  and 
is  now  being  farmed  under  the  direction  of  the  Agricultural 
department,  with  an  expert  farmer  taken  from  the  government 
experiment  station.  On  this  a  poultry  ranch  has  already  been 
established ;  a  green  house  will  be  built  and  a  model  dairy  in- 
stalled. 

One  ungraded  room  has  been  established  for  retarded  pupils, 
and  the  plan  is  to  add  others  immediately. 

Along  the  line  of  Commlissioner  Kendall's  suggestions,  the 
salaries  of  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools  were  increased 
from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent. 

These  enlargements  of  school  activities  have  added  twen- 
ty-five per  cent  to  the  budget  without  any  complaint  from 
taypayers. 

CHAS.  S.  MEEK, 
Superintendent  of  Schools. 


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